The
first day the boy hammered 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as
he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually
dwindled down. He discovered
it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the
boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about
it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day
that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father
that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the
hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my
son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When
you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a
knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm
sorry, the wound is still there. A
verbal wound is as bad as a physical on."

I think the lesson the young
man in this story learns is such an important one and also is a lesson that
unfortunately many of us learn much later in life.Penso
che in questa storia la lezione che il giovane impara sia molto importante ed è
anche una lezione che, purtroppo, molti di noi imparano molto più tardi nella
vita.

When we are young, saying or
doing mean or hurtful things out of anger or frustration to the ones we love seems
pretty easily remedied.

Suddenly as adults we look back
on our own lives at the times when someone hurt us with their cruel words or
actions and although we were able to forgive them, there are some things we
discover were never able to truly forget.

Every time we are in a dispute
with a friend, disagreement with a loved one it’s so important to remember to
pause and take a moment to think about the possible permanent repercussions,
like the nails hammered in the fence, our actions and words could have on
others.